Hipster Brooklyn Jew Invades Dixie, Discovers NASCAR

By Paul Lukas, on February 25th, 2013

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My friend Matt and I — both non-religious Jews — like to play a game called “Jews Don’t Do That,” which basically entails creating a running list of things Jews don’t do. For example: Jews don’t go hunting; Jews don’t become cops or firemen; Jews don’t join the Boy Scouts; Jews don’t play football; Jews don’t own pick-up trucks; and so on.

And boy oh boy, Jews really don’t do NASCAR.

But I struck a small blow for Yids at the track yesterday, as I attended the Daytona 500 with Uni Watch webmaster John Ekdahl (that’s him standing next to me in the photo above, with both of us wearing our noise-canceling headphones). It was my first NASCAR experience of any kind. Ek, who lives in north Florida, is a huge racing fan and has been bugging me to come to Daytona for ages. This year I finally took him up on it. (I flew down on Saturday afternoon, so I wasn’t at the track for the horrific crash that took place that day.)

The race included a bone fide Uni Watch moment: At one point Juan Pablo Montoya, who drives car No. 42, was involved in a wreck, and his car was taken to the garage for repairs. When he returned, his right door had been replaced. But the “2” from his “42” had been on the door, so his crew had to create a makeshift numeral out of white tape.

I’ll have more to say about my Daytona experience later this week on ESPN.com. All I want to day for now is that John and his lovely wife, Amy, were incredibly gracious hosts and gave me best introduction to NASCAR a Jew guy could want. Their hospitality was all the more impressive given that they’re expecting their first child in three weeks. Thanks, guys — you’re the best.

I don’t know if the lack of an NFL shield or copyright mark indicates anything or not… but that NJ logo is absolutely terrible.

Dumb Guy|
February 25, 2013 at 8:16 am |

The only articles about fake NFL gear that interest me are the ones accompanied by photos of hilariously bad attempts at thievery. You know, misspellings, upside-down or wrong logos–that kind of stuff.

Mike Engle on iPad|
February 25, 2013 at 8:21 am |

No biggie on the Blackhawks app. Actually, let me clarify. Odd move, but makes sense.
Reebok and CCM are under the same umbrella, so even though the equipment lines are distinct, the two logos can show up together on clothing and merchandise. I own six Habs Reebok EDGE replica jerseys, and one’s tag (my white jersey) is completely consistent with what the Blackhawks app shows. Oddly enough, the one that matches is, upon reasonable belief, the oldest one. My others are from the Habs centennial, and those tags have the Reebok word mark in the non-serif, all-lowercase font, while the white one is tagged with Rbk and CCM on the label. This is consistent with Reebok’s branding identity, gradually going away from the vector logo in favor of just the word mark. Of course, nowadays, the external logos are of the Reebok word mark, and not the vector. I do not own any jerseys that showcase that.
TL;DR: It isn’t wrong, but it certainly isn’t up to date either. Weird, but somewhat explicable.

Dirk N.|
February 25, 2013 at 8:44 am |

The Chicago Blackhawks logo is the best logo in sports.

walter|
February 25, 2013 at 11:52 am |

It’s a work of art.

Robert Eden|
February 25, 2013 at 8:46 am |

Great post. Even more than the headline I had to chuckle at the remark that Juan Pablo Montoya’s door was replaced. These cars lack doors.

Ha! There’s my ignorance for ya. OK, so they replaced a panel, or whatever.

Robert Eden|
February 25, 2013 at 8:56 am |

I really did get a big kick out of it. I love taking people to their first NASCAR race. They inevitably enjoy the experience and I get to answer their many questions about a sport about which they had previously given little thought. It would be like me going to a cricket match. “I know generally what’s going on here, but I am eager to understand what is really happening and have a zillion inquiries . . . .”

ChrisH|
February 25, 2013 at 10:33 am |

Maybe I’m displaying my ignorance (on a different topic this time!), but I wonder why JPM’s pit crew felt that was necessary(if it was necessary at all)…the spotter would be using the roof #, all scoring is done electronically, and fans sitting close can’t see the ‘door’ #’s all that well either(?) when the car’s at full speed.

Tom V.|
February 25, 2013 at 11:04 am |

If you’re sitting close to the track cars are nearly indiscernable from one another. Farther away you’ll be able to see the numbers better. Spotters I think would be tuned into their teams enough to know their car was missing a 2.

Unfortunately the reason might have been marketing. Target is the 42 car, not the 4. And that is the side facing the crowd.

ChrisH|
February 25, 2013 at 12:17 pm |

Never been to DIS but I’ve gone to a few other 1 mile+ tracks so I know that when you are close to the track all you can see well is pitstops and pace laps(which is why sitting trackside is typically less expensive).
I’ve seen repair jobs where pit crews affix giant sponsor logo stickers on the damaged portions of the car too.

Turtle12|
February 25, 2013 at 4:49 pm |

Pretty sure it’s a NASCAR requirement.

Tom V.|
February 25, 2013 at 5:06 pm |

Could be, but there must be a fine line in there somewhere. How many times have you seen an obscured or unreadable number from rubbing the wall, tire or another car?

Jack|
February 25, 2013 at 8:47 am |

One of the Brazilian football teams is using the Buffa-slug

Oakville Endive|
February 25, 2013 at 8:48 am |

Small typo with the Andrew Shaw sentence, I believe you mean to say “fight” as opposed to “right”

The new Schutt front face clips are designed for us to remove the face mask quicker in an emergency. There are the traditional speed clips at the bottom and the top is designed to twist off the mask after the mask swings up.

Dumb Guy|
February 25, 2013 at 4:24 pm |

I thought they were redesigned for optimum mouthpiece holding capability. Oh wait, that was that other stupid thing from a few days ago.

Dave|
February 26, 2013 at 8:40 am |

I lied, The clips at the bottom are 1/4 turn screws

Robert Eden|
February 25, 2013 at 8:52 am |

Living in the South, sort of (Dallas-area), I was thinking that a couple of the items on Paul’s “Jews Don’t Do That” would not apply as much down here. For instance, even Jews would drive pickups in Texas, right? And hunt?

Then I ran down the list of Jewish folk that I know (quite a few, I am a lawyer, after all), and not a one owns a pickup. Damn. This is fascinating.

A few do hunt, however. Hmm, how does one hunt without a pickup? I really need to talk to my friends about this phenomenon.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that one of the Brazilian football teams (aptly, the Predatores) uses a Predator mask for their logo, like from the movie. Kudos for appealing to both sports AND scifi nerds, and or potentially dodging some SERIOUS trademark infringements.

Abe L.|
February 25, 2013 at 9:11 pm |

I’m digging the “istepôs” team name. I’m not sure what it means in Portuguese, but all it reminds me of are the Springfield Isotopes from the Simpsons.

JimWa|
February 25, 2013 at 9:05 am |

Since I’m a sheep, I watched the last 15 minutes of yesterday’s race, just on the off chance that history was about to happen. Watching it made me wonder: Is there any reason (outside of marketing) for calling a car a “Toyota Camry” or a “Ford Fusion” in NASCAR? I mean, other than some similarities in the “face” of each car (general shape and stickers that represent the grille and headlights), do the cars on a NASCAR track have ANYTHING to do with the vehicles that sit in driveways across the country? From what little I know, I THINK that Ford makes the parts that go into the “Ford” race cars (and likewise for the other companies), but, for example, is a Fusion on the NASCAR circuit any more similar to one in the showroom than it is to a Focus?

Hello Jimmy,
This article might help understand how NASCAR used to be the same cars as in the showroom, then in the 80’s started to just look like the ones in the showroom until they arrived to the point of the Car of Tomorrow which looked nothing like the one in the showroom and now is going back to try to have something really similar than the showroom.http://oppositelock....

This is a timely comment. This year NASCAR moved to their “Generation 6” model. They had become a bit concerned that the car manufacturers/models were becoming indistinguishable from each other on the track. I didn’t see the broadcast, but perhaps the announcers are pushing this a little bit by trying to include the model name more often (they used to do this a little, but more often just said “Ford” or “Chevy”, I think).

They are “stock” cars, after all. Part of the idea is (or was) that you could go into the showroom and buy the car you saw on the track. The old saying was “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” and I think they’re trying to return to that a bit.

ChrisH|
February 25, 2013 at 10:16 am |

Things got really silly when Ford did away with the T-Bird (coupe) and teams had to racing a “Taurus”(sedan):

I think there was a NASCAR “strictly stock” series in the 1940’s (since customized and high performance parts were in short supply after WWII?), plus in those early years there was a convertable series too.
To comply with NASCAR’s rule that only production models could be entered in races, many manufacturers in the 1960’s up through the early/mid 80’s released limited edition street versions of what would later be some of NASCAR’s most recognizible models (i.e.: the Plymouth SuperBird and Ford Torino Talledega).

Terry Proctor|
February 25, 2013 at 11:32 am |

NASCAR used to require that 500 units of an engine or a body style be built for over-the-counter use before it could “legally” be run on the track. But the manufacturers had ways around the rules. For example the Ford Torino Talladega (and the Mercury Cyclone) body style was just a simple modification of the front nose piece that went on the Torino fastback. Ralph Moody of Holman-Moody designed the feature by creating a downward slope on the piece on an English-wheel metalworking tool. He then installed a flush grille and took a rear Torino bumper, cut it in two and welded in a section so that it would fit and you had a Talladega. All of the Talladega front end parts came out of H-M’s Charlotte, NC shop. All of the NASCAR Talladega bodies that FoMoCo teams (H-M, Petty, Jr. Johnson, the Wood Bros.)used came from H-M. They funneled just enough parts to the Atlanta Ford plant so that enough “street” ‘Degas could be built. Were there 500 each street ‘Degas and ‘Clones built? “Official” production numbers say yes. The truth is “maybe.”

No joke: Several Jewish friends and I all agree that our parents never wanted us to join the Scouts because the idea of kids wearing that kind of uniform reminded them of the Hitler Youth.

In my case, I wasn’t forbidden to join the Scouts, and I did in fact sign up for Cub Scouts, but I didn’t like it and quit after two months. My Mom later told me she was relieved that I quite, because of the HY association.

OK, gotta go to the airport now.

T'Challa|
February 25, 2013 at 9:22 am |

Nice URL today Paul, gave me a chuckle

Mirliton|
February 25, 2013 at 9:27 am |

+5 for Kinky Friedman reference.

Le Cracquere|
February 25, 2013 at 10:49 am |

Heard the Kinkster explain once that there wasn’t a TOTAL lack of cultural overlap between Jewishness and being Texan: “Both tend to wear their hats indoors a lot.”

[Teasing. I only got Rose, Eckersley & Johnson without looking. That was Randy Johnson, I hope. And I’d already seen Valenzuela on Twitter.]

Mainspark|
February 25, 2013 at 9:29 am |

I got a bigger kick out of Paul self-identifying as a hipster.

Derek|
February 25, 2013 at 9:29 am |

I find it offensive that the 1993 Marlins highlights in the ticker are labeled “LAD@MIA” by MLB. A) historical accuracy – there were no Miami Marlins in 1993, B) Why on earth would they sully that wonderful footage of the beautiful Florida Marlins uniforms by associating it with the abomination that is the Loria Marlins? Shameful.

Dumb Guy|
February 25, 2013 at 10:10 am |

RE: Brazilian football….

Surely, I’m not the only one who noticed the Corupá Buffalos have done some International/Intersport logo “borrowing”, am I??

Love it that Paul attended the Daytona 500. But calling Daytona (or most any of Florida for that matter) “Dixie” is an arguable point among Southerners. Regardless, the South was certainly well represented at the race. That is some serious cultural immersion. Bold move Paul, bravo (or mazel tov, if you prefer)!

calling Daytona (or most any of Florida for that matter) “Dixie” is an arguable point among Southerners.

Really? Florida was part of the Confederacy — I’d think that would be enough to qualify for Dixie status right there.

Phil Hecken|
February 25, 2013 at 3:20 pm |

GTV|
February 25, 2013 at 3:27 pm |

Oh no sir. Being part of the former Confederacy and being culturally Southern are two different things. For example, parts of Kentucky and Missouri and West Virginia are very Southern, but were not part of the CSA. OTOH, South Florida (no, Daytona is not South Florida) especially is culturally more like the Northeast than the rest of the geographical South. But that can also be said for enclaves like Cary (“Catchment Area for Relocated Yankees”), North Carolina and to an extent for portions of cities like Atlanta.

This is of course, a very different, non-uni related topic. We could even get into the definition of what a “Yankee” is to Southerners (it is not a New Englander).

Again, major props for going to the big race! Can’t wait to hear your take on it.

Right, but we’re not talking about “being Southern”; we’re talking about what qualifies as Dixie. Like, would you really refer to any part of West Virginia, no matter how culturally Southern it might be, as Dixie? I sure wouldn’t.

I wouldn’t call any part of the South “Dixie” (that’s a Yankee term). But do I consider parts of WV, KY and Missouri the South? Absolutely!

I agree Jax is probably culturally Southern. Miami? Boca? St. Pete? Not so much.

Chris Cruz|
February 25, 2013 at 1:09 pm |

Re the use of the term “Yid” – this has been a topic in the UK for some time as Tottenham supporters use it as a point of pride while others use it in a derogatory manner. This was brought up again recently when Tottenham fans were attacked in Lyon.

They raced at Martinsville. I was there, wasn’t sure what I was seeing until I looked it up. But yeah, the Magen David has been raced around a NASCAR track. Evangelical Christians (found largely in the South) are often big supporters of Israel.

ChrisH|
February 25, 2013 at 4:38 pm |

I’m not too sure if Martinsville hot dogs are kosher, but they are best I’ve ever eaten!
Also, I think dragster Kenny Berstein is Jewish (he used to own a NASCAR team and his cars won some races).

umplou|
February 25, 2013 at 2:04 pm |

Love the Reggie/Billy bobble head! Some nice other suggestions in the comment section.

As I said there, here are a couple that would be fun:

Joe Niekro with half a hardware store in his back pocket

The Babe eating a hot dog in uniform, mustard stains on the uni shirt

Weaver on his tippy toes, cap backwards, in the face of say, Ron Luciano – both heads bobble ready

2 Bouton ones:

1. Him in his Yankee uniform, pitching, cap about to fall off

2. Him in a Pilots uni, knuckleball grip on the ball, notepad in his back pocket

Bouton writes about Fritz Peterson ( I think) swallowing his chaw on the mound, and barfing it up – THAT would be an awesome bobblehead

*Rant warning*:
When the team scheduled the public unveiling, I was initially very excited. It’s a very nice treat to witness something that, as a fan of the team, wannabe writer, and Uni Watcher, I value as highly important. A public unveiling serves many purposes, but there’s no point if you’re going to let the air out of the room before it fills up.

Save everyone’s time and energy. The team obviously put the photos up early in the day so no one would show at the “unveiling” to express any sort of dissent. Whoever added to the weed out process by scheduling the unveiling for a downtown venue at 5 p.m. deserves a raise.

It’s disingenuous and smacks of not really giving a damn about the visual identity. I’ve made peace with adidas changing the shirt every other year; it’s a cash grab, and I do not comprise the entire target market. Some will like it, some won’t. However, to disguise it all as a giant PR move – “look at how we’ve let the fans in!” – should perturb anyone who supports the team.

All that’s missing are some quotes about various elements ‘reminding the players of their home field advantage’ and some spiel about how the fabric is that much light- oh wait, it’s already in the linked article. You can say what you want about MLS being a ‘Mickey Mouse’ league, but they certainly pull off a uniform unveiling like all the other big leagues.

Depends on your philosophy. I’ve accepted that in order to compete with other sports, soccer has to do jersey sponsorships. There aren’t natural stoppages in play and clock to run a commercial. However, if I could pick up last year’s jersey (which I’m partial to) sans sponsor, I’d do so in a heartbeat.

If sponsorships are good enough to keep a Uni-blog running…they are good enough to help keep athletic clubs running.

Phil Hecken|
February 25, 2013 at 11:47 pm |

I wasn’t saying that to be a dick — I understand that soccer teams need ads on jerseys because they have no other revenue streams and all the clubs in foreign countries have them. It’s like a badge of honor. If you don’t have a sponsor, you ain’t shit, right?

Not sure how the comparison to UW, which gives its content away for free and does actually rely on ad revenue, is comparable, but hey, you want to make that comparison, you know it’s false.

The whole “content for free” gig gets old. I’m a blogger just the same. I give away my content for free with no sponsors. My blog probably doesn’t generate nearly as many visitors either…oh well.

People don’t HAVE to charge for their webcontent. There’s no mandatory fee for people to run blogs. So, the comparison does exist. In order for MANY soccer teams to survive, they have to go with a jersey sponsor. While it may be unfortunate to some, and it may be great for others, it’s kind of the same scenario for bloggers that feel the need to “give in to” advertising.

Phil, I also didn’t mean to say it like you were being a dick. It’s a legitimate question. I was just expanding to demonstrate a certain level of knowledge on my side, and inform anyone reading through the commets who may not Get It® with respect to soccer jersey ads.

In a perfect world, we’d have a classic, but unique kit (see: last year’s sunburst), and there would never be a sponsor. However, I’ve found over time that I’m not so opposed to sponsors as a concept as I am to specific sponsors. Greenstar Recycling? Amigo Energy? Kind of lame. The team may need the money, but I’m not going to sport the jersey. Yet I have no issue wearing the Standard Chartered logo on my Liverpool replica.

Wheels|
February 25, 2013 at 4:10 pm |

I think there is something endearing about the brutal lettering on Jack Sikma’s NOB.

Tom V.|
February 25, 2013 at 4:10 pm |

Question Paul, who were you listening to on the headsets? Single driver or jumping around?

You’re looking at straight city limit population, I believe. This is misleading because Jacksonville is the largest city in the country (not in Alaska) by land area. I think it has over 700 square miles within the city border, which is massive.

Look at metro markets. Jacksonville is smaller than Oklahoma City and just above Memphis.

I’m a Giants fan, but I’ve adopted the Jags since moving here. Definitely root for them and attend some games.

The team has a lot of local support. Certainly much more than the media reports. There weren’t any blackouts last year (and I believe the two years before that as well). Ticket sales have been steady.

Tom V.|
February 25, 2013 at 10:53 pm |

I grew up on LI but never got to an NFL game and never really followed it. I live in Orlando now and have a friend in Jacksonville who’s had Jags season tix since he moved there in 02. So he invited me once in 03 and I’ve been a Jags fan since. Actually the games were blacked out in Orlando this year, never had that happen before even thought they sold out. We get every freakin Bucs game on Fox still and only the away Jags games.

Neeko|
February 26, 2013 at 1:33 am |

John – it was nice hearing from and you answering questions from today, big thanks for what you do for the site.

Nope, It must be his second time. http://i1.mail.com/8... Looks like it’s just the first time I’ve noticed them this season. Odd to me that the leg pads are the only thing he’s updated from last season, maybe the glove and waffle board aren’t broken in yet…

I work at a Day School and plenty of kids had jerseys as costumes….had to restrain myself from my usual uni habits to teach

Alex|
February 26, 2013 at 3:29 am |

Changing the subject from Purim and the Daytona 500… For a few years, the Rockies have been using a very cool logo for spring training, where they replace the mountains normally in the logo for a desert motif. They are using it again this year, I have seen it on bus stops and billboards around Phoenix.